


The One That Got Away

by Never_Stop_Dreaming



Category: Black Friday - Team StarKid
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, the one that got away
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-12
Updated: 2020-10-23
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:40:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,164
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24686263
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Never_Stop_Dreaming/pseuds/Never_Stop_Dreaming
Summary: It’s been six years since the horrifying events of Black Friday. Lex is being trained under PEIP when she discovers that they’re rescuing people from the Black and White, which can only mean one thing.Ethan is coming back.
Relationships: Alice/Deb (The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals), Becky Barnes/Tom Houston, Lex Foster/Ethan Green, Xander Lee/John McNamara
Comments: 12
Kudos: 55





	1. Chapter 1

Life goes on.

That was something Lex discovered after she found out Ethan died. 

When she found out, she had collapsed, sobs wracking her body, almost choking. Tom had been terrified, standing frozen like a deer in headlights. But Becky wrapped her arms around Lex, grounding her and letting Lex cling to her for as long as she needed, until her voice was gone and she was exhausted.

Becky was her main caretaker in the days that followed. When she had finally cried herself dry, Becky had helped her up, taking her to the bathroom and helping her wash her face in the sink. She coaxed some food into her and gave her clothes to change into so that she could finally sleep.

Part of Lex expected that the world would end. But the sun rose the next morning, just as it always did. Except this time, Ethan wasn’t there to see it.

And life kept moving.

She felt hollow most days. Empty. It hurt. But Becky refused to let her fall into self-destructive tendencies. She forced her to quit smoking, and encouraged her to eat healthy and to go on frequent runs throughout Hidgen’s fortress. She was a shoulder for Lex to cry on, a comforting presence during panic attacks and mental breakdowns.

Xander Lee contacted Lex not long after, saying that General Macnamara had ordered him to find her. She accepted a job in Washington DC to begin training to be a PEIP agent. Becky and Tom adopted Hannah, and told Lex that she could always rely on them for help. She would move into an apartment with Alice, someone who went to the same high school as her, who was attending an art school on a scholarship, and would train under Xander Lee.

Moving away from Hatchetfield helped a little. Washington DC wasn’t filled with constant reminders of him, didn’t have the coffee shop where they had their first date, or the park where he first kissed her, or the street corner where they used to smoke together. By this point, she no longer cried at the thought of Ethan. But she didn’t want to date anymore. 

Life went on.

In Washington DC, life was better. In a strange way, Alice took the place of Ethan as Lex’s main partner in life. The two hadn’t really been close before. They barely had anything in common, so Lex had never thought about it before. But living together brought them together. Alice would rant to her about her shitty teachers or gush over or girlfriend, Deb, and Lex would rant to her about the stupid drill seargents and rules at PEIP headquarters. They would curl up on the couch together to watch Stranger Things, a personal favorite of both of them.

Life went on.

Not the same, but nevertheless, it kept moving.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To put it simply, it had been a shitty day.

She woke up late, and had to endure a long lecture from her sergeant about the importance of waking up on time. She had a nasty fall on one of the obstacle courses, and got into a fight with one of her comrades. 

Xander agreed to let her come home from training early so that she could unwind. He had a soft spot for her, she knew, even if he would never admit it. On the bus back to her apartment, she flipped through her phone. A missed call from Becky, followed by a text.

_ Wanted to talk to you about something. Call me when you can! _

She dialed Becky, holding the phone up to her ear.

It only took a few rings before Becky picked up. 

“Hey! Are you off training early?”

“Yeah. Bit of a shitty day to say the least.”

“I’m so sorry! Anything in particular?”

“Just a series of unfortunate events. What did you want to talk to me about?”

Silence. She seemed to be debating how to put the news.

“Lex… they’re starting to pull people out of the Black and White. They’re rescuing them.”

Lex’s chest tightened painfully.

“Oh.”

Silence.

“Are you okay?”

“I… yeah, I guess so.”

“What are you thinking about?”

Lex swallowed, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

“It’s been six years.”

“You can be honest with me.”

“I know. I honestly don’t know how I feel.”

A pause.

“Wanna call me later when your thoughts are more in order?”

Lex let out a sigh of relief. Becky always seemed to know just what she needed.

“I’ll call tomorrow. Love you.”

“Love you too! Be safe, okay?”

“Okay. Bye.”

She hung up, tucking the phone into her pocket. The bus came to a halt, and she climbed off, thanking the driver and climbing up the apartment building stairs to her and Alice’s apartment. 

Lex had fallen in love with her and Alice’s little apartment. She had pretty much let Alice have free reign with the interior designing. A grey sofa, fairy lights strung across the curtains, soft blue walls, fuzzy blankets and pillows, Alice’s paintings covering the walls. The apartment always made her feel safe and warm, a healthy departure from the way her life had been before, living in a shitty apartment and belly aching constantly for a meal.

She headed straight to the bathroom, stripping off her clothing and climbing into the shower. She turned the water on until it scalded her, and she scrubbed viciously with scented soaps until her skin was red and she felt as though she couldn’t possibly get any cleaner. The shower soothed her a bit, and she felt calmer afterwards. She climbed out, patting herself dry and heading to her bedroom to throw on a t-shirt and a pair of shorts that Becky had made for her.

_ Ethan. _

She felt her throat tighten. Almost by muscle memory, she knelt down beside her bed, reaching under and pulling out an old shoebox, the color faded. She hesitated a moment. 

Did she really want to drag it up again?

She opened the lid.

A soft, green flannel. Faded in some spots, slightly worn down. She lifted it out, bringing it up to her nose and inhaling sharply. The lingering scent of cigarettes, followed by a rich, earthy smell. Faded, but still clinging to the fabric after six years.

She burst into tears.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She was still heaving with dry sobs when the telltale sound of a door opening and the click of high heels on hardwood floor signaled that Alice was home.

“Lex?!”

The clicks sped up and got louder. She heard the sound of her bedroom door opening, and Alice gasping.

“Lex!”

And suddenly, arms were wrapping around her, cradling her against Alice’s chest. 

Alice was always a comforting presence. She smelled strongly of vanilla, Alice’s favorite perfume. She was impeccably clean and neat when she wasn’t painting, shirt ironed and pressed, heels that were perfectly polished, dark red hair twisted into a knot at the back of her head, and lipstick that never smeared. She had grown up significantly from the timid, shy girl she was as a teenager.

“Is this about Ethan?”

Lex nodded against her, lifting up the flannel for Alice to see. 

“Let’s put that away and take a break. I brought home some of our favorite wine. We can have a girls night and just talk.”

Lex let out a watery laugh. “Don’t we do that every night?”

Alice chuckled, helping her up. “Lemme get changed. I need to get into some sweatpants, let my hair down, wipe off this makeup…” Her voice trailed off, heels clicking as she headed down the hall to her bedroom, hands pulling out bobby pins from the knot perched on the back of her head.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was almost exactly like every other girls night. Sitting on their couch, a glass of wine in both of their hands, comfy pants and sweatshirts. But Lex couldn’t focus. Her mind was reeling, the lingering scent of Ethan’s flannel sharp in her mind.

“Lex?”

Lex snapped out of her trance to see Alice, eyebrows furrowed in concern. Lex flinched, looking down at her wine.

“‘M sorry.”

“Don’t be! You’re just… normally not like this. I’m worried, is all. It would help if you talked to me.”

Lex tapped her fingers on the glass.

“You know that PEIP is rescuing all those people who are trapped in the Black and White?”

Alice’s eyes widened, but she remained silent.

“That means that if all goes well, he’ll be back. And I don’t know how to feel about that. I know that he died for Hannah, and I don’t want him to be trapped in the Black and white, but… I don’t know, it took so long for me to heal, and I’m still not fully healed, and if he comes back, I don’t know what that would do to me!”

And just like that, it was out in the open.

Lex swallowed hard, tears already beginning to well back up. Alice reached forward and touched her hand.

“I’m a fucking selfish human being.”

“No, you’re not!”

Lex let out a dry laugh, rolling her eyes. “I hear news that the guy who saved my sister’s life and helped me during hard times in so many ways is coming back from the dead, and I basically say that I still want him dead because that would be ‘easier.’”

“I don’t think it’s like that at all. I think you do want him back. I think you’re just afraid because you don’t feel ready to deal with all the emotions that come with Ethan coming back. You haven’t dated in years.”

Lex looked down, swallowing hard. She wasn’t ready for that. Wasn’t ready to deal with emotions that she hadn’t felt in years. 

“How are things with you and Deb?”

She knew Alice could sense the deliberate subject change, but she didn’t comment on it.

“Deb asked me to move in with her. But I wanted to talk to you about it.”

Lex shrugged. “You should do it. I know that you’ve been thinking about proposing to her.”

Alice’s cheeks went pink, and Lex even managed to crack a genuine smile.

They slept in Alice’s bed, side by side, backs to each other. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Trainee Lex Foster, please report to Agent Xander Lee during lunch break today. Thank you.”

Lex felt her face heat up, deliberately looking away from her fellow agents-in-training who were no doubt staring at her in confusion. 

“Of fucking course. Xander  _ loves  _ her,” Lex heard one of them sneer. She threw a dirty look at them.

Today was water training, which meant swimming laps and diving and being held underwater by drill sergeants to learn proper breathing technique. She changed as fast as she could, trying to ignore the girls staring at her in the girl’s locker room as she changed into her PEIP training watersuit, a sleek, black thing that thankfully covered the parts of her that she hated the most. The cigarette burns on her arms, knotted skin on her stomach from a severe burn she had received during an emergency PEIP mission, and the strange marks left on her body from years of living in a trailer with no food and constant abuse.

One of the girls stepped forward to help Lex braid and twist her hair so that it was off her neck and out of the way. She flashed her a quick smile of thanks.

The pool water was icy cold, but she dove in. She focused everything she had on her training, swimming laps for hours, diving off the highest dive, and reviewing how to put on an emergency safety mask underwater while the drill sergeant held her under.

When the buzzer rang, signaling the end of water training and the start of lunch, Lex got out quickly, patting herself dry with a towel and changing quickly. Xander is waiting for her in the hallway, arms crossed and face stern.

“Good afternoon, Agent Lee,” she greeted politely. Xander motioned for her to follow him to his office, which she did willingly. His office was meticulously neat and plain. He was never one to like a lot of decorations.

She sat down in front of his desk, folding her hands on her lap as she was taught to do when called into the office of a commander.

“I heard that Alice moved out.”

Lex nodded. She was happy for Alice, honestly. Two weeks after their conversation, Alice proposed to Deb, who accepted happily. Only a few weeks after that, Alice moved out, leaving Lex most of their stuff. She missed Alice, of course, but they kept close in touch, and she seemed happy, so Lex didn’t mind as much.

“Yes sir.”

“And I know that with the new influx of hostages being rescued, it’s hard for you.”

It was. Those who were rescued so far from the Black and White were put in the medical ward, where they recieved full treatment for their injuries and traumas, and the staff helped them reunite with their families. Most of the refugees were reunited, running into the arms of family members and sobbing with joy. But those with no family wandered aimlessly through the PEIP headquarters, fearful of their future. It was a big topic among PEIP officials of how to deal with them, as they needed to get them out to make room for more hostages, but didn’t want to leave them with no way of helping themselves.

A part of her couldn’t help but search their faces for Ethan. Another part of her prayed she wouldn’t find him. 

“Well, yes sir.”

He studied her face, eyes scanning her warily.

“Are you gonna be okay?”

She lifted her chin,

“Yes sir. Thank you, sir.”

Xander nodded in satisfaction, opening his mouth to say something. But he was cut off as the alarms in the headquarters began to blare, causing them both to jump.

“Code Yellow! Refugee on the run! No brutal force!” The loudspeaker blared. Xander and Lex glanced at each other before standing up, busting the door open and running down the hall.

The hallway was beginning to fill with the sounds of boots slamming on the ground. “Remember, no brute force! Deescalate the situation as much as possible! No one should get hurt!” Xander yelled. There was a chorus of, “Yes sir!”

They arrived at a fork in the hallways. Xander gestured for Lex to go in the right one, and she obeyed, taking off at a sprint down it. Now, she was alone.

She slowed after a bit to listen. It was hard to hear over the sirens, but she tried nonetheless. 

The sound of footsteps was approaching, someone clearly bigger than her. She braced herself, slowly creeping up to a corner. The sound of footsteps was louder, and was now accompanied by the sound of panicked breathing. Whoever it was, it was definitely a hostage.

Someone came around the corner, and she leapt at them. They were taller than her, and far more muscular, but she knew how to fight someone bigger than her. She grabbed their arm, twisting it in a way that forced them to bend over. There was a cry of shock, then her feet were swept out from underneath her, and she landed with a thud.

They were scrambling to get away from her, but she grabbed their ankle, causing them to fall to the ground with her. “Stop! I’m trying to help you!” she cried out.

They froze, turning to face them. Her heart stopped.

Dark, wild curls sticking up in various directions. Frightened gray eyes. Blood streaming down one arm, no doubt the result of ripping out a needle. Pale skin and dark circles.

For a moment, they stared at each other in stunned silence. Then, almost whispered, came his voice, shaking and uneven.

“Lex?”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ethan begins his recovery.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was supposed to be only two chapters, but they were HELLA long! So I split it up a bit.
> 
> TW: Mentions of sexual assault.

Lex was petrified. All she could do was stay there, frozen, eyes wide.

_ Ethan. _

“Lex, i-it’s me.” He reached forward to touch her, his hands shaking violently. She flinched, and he recoiled, a hurt expression on his face that cut to her core. His eyes began to tear up, voice cracking as he continued to speak.

“Lex, I-I don’t know... w-where I am. I’m scared, please you have to help me…”

She still couldn’t reply. He seemed to become more desperate, reaching for her hand again. 

“L-Lex? It’s Ethan!”

Several nurses grabbed him by the arms, dragging him to his feet and forcing him to stand. He was full-blown panicking at this point, beginning to thrash against their hold and frantically screaming at her.

“Lex, please! Lex, don’t let them take me-“ The nurses twisted his arms, forcing him to slam against the wall, pinning him down. A nurse took out a syringe gun, pressing it against a vein in his neck and pulling the trigger. He yelped in pain, but his eyes didn’t leave Lex’s. 

_ The look in his eyes was the same look Hannah had given her so many years ago when she thought she was going to die. _

His eyes began to droop, and before she knew it, he went limp, fully unconscious, into the arms of several nurses.

Her throat felt closed up. She couldn’t watch as they dragged his limp body away, down the hallway and out of sight. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“He put up quite a fight. Hurt himself pretty badly when he ripped out the medications and sustained several injuries in his wild goose chase. We’ve got him restrained in his bed, and he’s heavily sedated. But he’s begun his recovery.”

Lex glanced at the door to Ethan’s room. Xander was listening intently as the nurse listed his various injuries and their plans to help him, but she was hardly listening. 

_ He was scared, and I couldn’t even fucking talk to him. _

_ He thought he was gonna die, and I didn’t tell him everything would be okay. _

“Lex?” 

She snapped out of her thoughts, turning her attention back to Xander and the nurse.

“He doesn’t have any documented family. But he has a minor record. Truth be told, I don’t think he has somewhere to go.”

Xander frowned at this. But he nodded.

“We can keep him here until we figure something out. We’re not going to abandon him.”

The door opened, and a group of disheveled nurses came out, scowling and muttering among themselves.

“The sedatives are wearing off. He’s trying to fight again. He’s going to re-injure himself,” one of the nurses said, clearly exasperated. 

“Have you tried increasing the dosage?”

“Wait!” Lex stepped forward before she could think about it. They looked at her strangely, but she swallowed hard, lifting her chin.

“Don’t. The drugs will only make him panic more. He wants to have full control of his body. He’s had bad experiences with people drugging him to the point of not being able to move.”

The nurses seemed to understand what she was saying, nodding solemnly. 

“Just… let me talk to him. Please.”

Glances were exchanged, but they all nodded in agreement. She let out a sigh of relief.

“Be careful, Lex. He’s been in there a long time. We don’t know what it could have done to him,” Xander warned. She nodded, standing up straighter and heading to the door.

Before she touched the handle, she hesitated. What if this only made things worse? What if she couldn’t do it?

No. She had to. She owed it to him.

She opened the door and walked inside.

The blankets were kicked off the bed. His hands and feet were restrained, and a large strap was wrapped around his hips so he couldn’t move. He was still trying to break free though. A large ventilator was strapped over his face, leaving only his eyes visible, which were wide and frightened, trying desperately to fight off the effects of the drugs being pumped into his body by a needle that was stuck in his arm.

It was hard to reconcile the man she saw in front of her with the one she had fallen for. Ethan, who always wore leather jackets and flannels, who was always smiling at her and joking with her. Who never seemed to be fazed by anything. 

His wild eyes landed on her, and he froze, chest heaving.

She forced herself to walk towards him. When she began getting closer, he let out a whimper, trying to move away from her. Her heart dropped.

“Ethan, it’s me. It’s Lex.”

His gaze was still wary. She swallowed, reaching up to the bun at the back of her head and letting it down.

There was so many things she wanted to say to him. She had always thought of what she would say if she had one more minute with him. Tell him that she loved him. Thank him for saving Hannah’s life. Kiss him one last time.

But she found she couldn’t say any of it.

Instead, she reached a hand up to his face, brushing his hair with her fingers. 

She combed through his tangled, matted hair tenderly, until it was out of his eyes fully and he had calmed down a bit.

The straps were tight, rubbing his skin raw. Her fingers moved down to a strap at his wrist, carefully undoing it.

“I imagine that doesn’t feel pleasant,” she joked weakly. She loosened each of the straps and shifted them to make sure it wouldn’t rub on his skin anymore. Finally, she lifted the blanket off the ground and tucked it around him firmly.

His eyes never left her, but he seemed to be calmer by the end. He wasn’t breathing quickly anymore, but he was still clearly fearful of her, watching as if she would suddenly attack.

She pulled up a chair by his bed, tucking her hair behind her ear.

“Do… do you know where you are?”

A nod of his head. She let out a sigh of relief.

“C-can I hold your hand? I’m not going to hurt you.”

She had to force herself to swallow back tears. To her surprise, Ethan nodded, although he certainly seemed to debate it in his head beforehand. She took his hand in both of hers, feeling the familiar callouses on his palms and fingers from years of working in a garage, which were still the same after all this time.

And maybe it was something about touching him again. Maybe it was they way he looked at her, with such fear and panic, that brought something to light in her. Maybe it was a combination of the last few weeks or the fact that Alice had moved out and was creating a future for herself and Lex was still stuck in the past.

But something awoke inside of Lex. And to herself, she made a vow. Ethan had saved her life. It was her turn to return the favor. She owed it to him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Agent Lee, you really think this is a good idea?!”

Xander was pacing, seemingly ignoring the nurse who was rambling next to Lex. Lex had made an offer for Ethan to move in with her until he could get back on his feet. This had caused a frenzy among the nurses, which led to Xander escorting a nurse and Lex to his office to talk about it.

“This girl has far too much of a personal history with him! She harbors emotions that could further damage the boy if he were to discover them! And what if she’s merely out to get him back?!”

“I don’t fucking care about that!” Lex snapped angrily. “And I’m not an animal! I can keep my emotions under control! But the point is that the hospital is filling up in here. More hostages are being rescued every day, and there isn’t enough room anymore for them all. I want to help. Not just the hospital staff, but him too. I owe him one. A big one.”

“The last thing that boy needs is you! He’s already afraid! How is rooming with his ex-girlfriend going to solve anything?! He’s overwhelmed enough as it is!”

“You know why he’s afraid?! Because you drugged him until he could barely move and then tied him down and left him to your mercy. You didn’t know that when he was a kid, his mom used to drug him in almost the exact same way so that she could do disgusting and vile things with him while he was powerless to say no. When you put him in that position or you come at him with a needle full of substance and he doesn’t know what that substance is, he panics. Of course he tried to fight back and escape! He was fucking terrified!”

Xander stopped his pacing. The nurse bowed her head, face shameful.

“I know Ethan. Better than anyone here. I know every detail about the horrible things that happened to him. I know exactly why he ran away from home and lived in his cousin Oliver’s house for most of his high school life. I know every trigger he has. I know every trick of how to help him through mental breakdowns. I know him.”

She took a deep, shuddering breath. She swallowed hard, blinking back tears before she let herself talk again.

“I know I have a history with him. And I’m not saying that my past feelings won’t come back again. But I care about him. And I’m not going to leave him to the wolves because he would do the same for me.”

The nurse and Xander exchanged silent looks. Finally, Xander nodded. Lex let out a sigh of relief.

“There will be a strict set of rules, however. And you are expected to follow them. You must hold him to these rules. We’ll give you a month and a half of paid leave to start, and if you need more, we can discuss it. But I trust your judgement, Lex.”

Lex couldn’t thank him enough.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ethan left with a strict set of rules indeed. He wasn’t allowed to leave Lex’s apartment, and Lex wasn’t allowed to leave either unless it was an emergency. He had to take a variety of pills to help him sleep, calm his mind, and heal faster. He was also required to talk to a therapist online an hour a day, and he was given a medical bracelet that he had to buzz if he was ever in danger.

Lex called Becky, then Alice. She explained everything to them. Becky said to keep in touch, and if Ethan needed anything to call her. Alice told her that she was concerned for Lex, but trusted her judgment. “But if things ever get too overwhelming, promise you’ll call, okay?” Lex promised she would.

And there he was. Standing in her apartment with what belongings PEIP had given him. 

For the first few days, Ethan hardly spoke. Most of the time, he was locked up in his bedroom. She knew that she shouldn’t bother him. Ethan didn’t like people trying to force themselves into his life. Still, she left him food outside his door. And he seemed to be eating it, because when she would pass his door again, the food would be gone. But some nights, when she was collecting dishes that Ethan had left neatly stacked outside his door, she could hear the sounds of muffled sobs.

She became scared. What if the nurses were right? Was she really too much for him? What if she got her hopes up only to have them crushed again?

But on the sixth day, she was watching TV when he emerged.

His hair was neatly combed, skin pink and still damp, no doubt from a shower, and dressed with a white t-shirt and sweatpants. 

She almost wept with relief.  _ He’s okay! _ He looked significantly healthier than he did when he first arrived, cheeks less hollow, skin less gray and sunken, the injuries healing up nicely and leaving behind silvery scars.

“How are you feeling?” she asked, trying to keep the tremble from her voice.

“Better. Thank you,” he replied, giving her a half-smile. Seeing that made something tight in her chest finally release.

_ He’s okay! _

She watched him from the corner of her eye. He was looking at a shelf, filled with photographs. Her and Alice at a New Year’s party, glasses raised and frozen in a moment of pure joy. Her and Alice in full hiking gear, posing on the top of a large rock, the city spread out beneath them. Her and Tom out on a boat, fishing gear in hand and one arm wrapped around her shoulders, squinting into the sunlight. Ethan’s eyes traveled over every one with a sort of sad longing. But his eyes stopped over one in particular.

It was a picture that Tom had sent her. Hannah, in a silver dress, hair carefully curled and styled, eyes glowing as she looked at herself in a mirror. Becky standing beside her, hands on her shoulders, beaming proudly. And in the mirror, Tom could be seen, holding his phone up, a large grin on his face. 

Ethan picked it up, bringing it closer to him. His thumb ran across the painted frame, expression carefully blank. Lex found herself holding her breath.

And suddenly, his eyes were no longer merely scanning, but searching. Moving quickly and pausing over certain photographs. A selfie on Lex and Hannah with Tom and Becky’s puppy, Prince, curled up between them. Hannah proudly holding a large, furry tarantula in her hands towards Becky, who was clearly horrified, but trying very hard not to show it. Hannah dressed in jeans and a sweater, hair in a ponytail, and holding a paper with the words, “First Day of Freshman Year!” scribbled across it in Tom’s handwriting. Hannah and Tim at Pizza Pete’s, trying to work the claw machine.

And finally, Hannah standing in a graduation gown and cap, smiling ear to ear, surrounded by Becky, Tom, Lex, and Tim. Her family.

Ethan smiled, eyes misty.

“She did it.”

It hit Lex then just how much Ethan had missed. Hannah had grown up since Ethan had last seen her. Becky and Tom paid for her therapy, and gave her a loving home to stay at. And Lex noticed the difference whenever she came to visit. Hannah was more confident, and less afraid of being social. She did well in school, and before Lex knew it, she had graduated from highs school. Right now, she was still living with Becky and Tom, taking a gap year before going to college.

Ethan had missed all of it.

“She’s going to college next year to become an environmental scientist,” Lex said softly. Ethan chuckled.

“She’ll be a damn good one.”

He placed the photograph in his hands back on the shelf. He took another moment to look over the photos before heading back to his bedroom.

She never thanked Ethan. Every photo Tom or Becky sent, every excited phone call Lex got from Hannah about her school or her life, every time someone fondly referred to Hannah as “Banana,” Lex was reminded that none of this would be possible if Ethan hadn’t saved her. If Ethan hadn’t held off the shoppers to give Hannah the chance to run, Hannah would never have had the life she had today.

She picked up her phone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Ethan?”

She knocked on his door, hands shaking with nerves. There was the sound of fumbling, then the door opened. Face to face with Ethan, she swallowed hard.

“Do… do you want to talk to Hannah?”

She held up her phone hesitantly. On the screen, Hannah was sitting on her bed, Prince in her lap, eyes hopeful.

_ “Ethan?” _

Ethan stared at her for a moment, in shock. Lex held her breath.

He took the phone from her hand, giving a crooked grin.

“Hey, Banana Split.”

Hannah’s face burst into a grin.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hannah and Ethan talked for hours. Even after Hannah had to hang up for dinner, Ethan was practically glowing. While Lex made dinner, Ethan repeated everything Hannah had told him. Funny school mishaps, what her life was like with Becky and Tom, arguments she had gotten into with Tim. And even though Lex had heard all these stories before, she listened attentively. 

“If I were there, that kid would have gotten an ass-kicking. He was totally out of line,” Ethan scoffed. Lex rolled her eyes playfully.

“As if you would beat up some poor kid.”

“He wasn’t some poor kid, he was a piece of shit who knew fully well taking Hannah’s fries was a bad move,” he replied with a smirk. Lex felt her heart soar in her chest. This was the closest she and Ethan had gotten to being like they were before. The playful banter, the teasing back and forth, just hanging out together.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Comments inspire me to keep writing so PLEEAASE tell me what you think!


	3. A Day Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lex takes Ethan out for a day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took a while! I hope you like it!

_ The sun was beginning to set, casting the sky in hues of pink and gold, when Lex heard the sound of rapping at the trailer window. _

_ Hannah was sound asleep, curled up in the pile of dusty blankets like a cat, and didn’t even stir at the sound. Lex let out a sigh of relief; all day, Hannah had been restless. A group of kids had been bullying her at school, and so with their mother gone with another guy for a couple weeks, she agreed to let Hannah stay at home with her for the day. She was difficult to deal with throughout the day, but Lex managed. She knew what it was like to be bullied. To be pushed aside. She would give anything to make it better for her. _

_ She went to the window, opening the small curtains that covered it, and when her eyes handed on him, she couldn’t stop the dorky smile that spread across her face. Ethan stood there, hands shoved into his jacket pockets, a smile that mirrored hers perfectly on his lips. _

_ She practically ran to the door, throwing it open, running at him, and jumping into his arms. He spun her around once before dipping her back and kissing her, long and slow. _

_ “What the fuck are you doing here?” she giggled. He shrugged playfully. _

_ “Happy one year!” _

_ She thought for a moment. Sure enough, they had gotten together about a year ago. _

_ “Holy shit! I totally forgot!” she groaned. He shook his head fondly, wrapping his arms around her waist. _

_ “Don’t stress about it. I know a lot’s been going on. I just wanted to see you,” he reassured her. _

_ “You’re a loser,” she mumbled into his jacket. He shrugged.  _

_ “Well, I’m the loser who you dated for a year. So who’s the real loser here?” _

_ She slapped his arm in response, which only made him laugh. _

_ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ _

_ By the time it was fully dark, Ethan and Lex were laying on the roof of the trailer together, Lex wrapped up in one of Ethan’s flannels, her head on his shoulder, one of Ethan’s arms wrapped around her and the other clutching a cigarette that he took occasional drags from. _

_ “I fucking hate it here,” she said finally. His eyebrows furrowed. _

_ “Well, if you don’t like being up here, you know you can-“ _

_ “No! No, I meant Hatchetfield. I hate it here in Hatchetfield.” _

_ “Oh. Gotcha. Don’t scare me like that.” _

_ Despite herself, she smiled a little at this. Ethan took another drag, clearly thinking. _

_ “We could run away, you know.” _

_ Lex wrapped the flannel around herself more tightly. “Where would we go?” _

_ “Well, where do you want to go?” _

_ She pulled at a loose thread on one of the sleeves, worrying her lower lip with her teeth. “I couldn’t leave Hannah.” _

_ “Who says we’re leaving her behind? We’ll take little Miss Banana Split. I got a car. I can drive you anywhere you want to go.” _

_ “We don’t have the money. We’d starve to death before we got anywhere,” she joked tiredly. He threw the cigarette off of the side of the trailer and pulled her closer. _

_ “I have my job at the garage. You have Toy Zone. We could save money. If we saved a certain amount of money every day for a year, we could make a good amount.” _

_ Lex paused, waiting for a laugh. Ethan had joked about running away before, but one look at his face confirmed he wasn’t joking this time. _

_ “Would it be enough?” _

_ “I don’t know. But we’ll find other ways to make money. I could hide it somewhere your mother could never find it.” _

_ She lifted herself up so she could see his face. She could hardly contain the tremble in her voice. _

_ “You think we could really do it?” _

_ “Hell yeah! Just tell me where you wanna go. I’ll drive you and Hannah anywhere you want.” _

_ He was smiling. Something inside Lex sparked to life in a way it never had before. For the first time in her life, she had hope. Hope that things could get better. Hope that she could finally get away. Hope that Ethan had given her. A series of emotions, one after another, swelled up in her chest and up to her throat, culminating in three words whispered in the back of her mind. _

**_I love you._ **

_ It was on the tip of her tongue.  _

_ But she couldn’t say it. She couldn’t risk messing up what they had. She couldn’t risk him leaving her. _

_ So instead, she kissed him, hard, moving his hand down to her waist and gripping his collar with an iron grip. He made a noise of surprise, but didn’t try to pull back, kissing her back and holding her close. _

_ He had to leave before midnight. His cousin would be looking for him soon, and he would wake up the whole house to find him. Ethan pulled her in for one last kiss. _

_ “By the way… you can keep that flannel. It looks better on you. Think of it as an anniversary present.” The smile he gave her was blinding, face glowing in the moonlight. Something caught in her throat, and her eyes began to water, but she merely smiled and pecked his cheek in thanks. She watched him drive away, out of sight. _

_ She never did tell him that she loved him. _

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ethan was growing restless, she could tell. 

He didn’t hole up in his bedroom all day, and part of her was grateful for that. But instead, he paced around the apartment, never seeming to be able to stand still even for a moment. He tossed and turned in his sleep. When he ate dinner, he bounced his leg and jiggled his fork and ate too fast. He watched television with her sometimes, but he got up from the couch frequently or drummed his fingers against the couch cushions. 

It felt selfish to admit, but it made her uneasy to be around him like this. So, one morning, before she headed out to the kitchen, she dialed Xander’s number.

It usually took him a while to pick up. But this time, he picked up almost immediately.

“Hello Lex.”

“Morning sir.”

“How have you been?”

She blinked in surprise. Xander wouldn’t normally ask questions like that. He preferred to cut straight to the chase.

“I’m doing alright. Have you?”

“Yes, I’m doing extremely well, thank you. What are you calling for?”

She heard the sound of shifting in the kitchen, of cabinet doors opening. Ethan was awake.

“I’m worried about Ethan. He’s been really restless recently, and jittery. He doesn’t even sleep that well. I was wondering if there was anything I could do for him to make him feel more relaxed?”

A slight pause. The sound of a door opening, and a faint, yet familiar voice came from the other end of the phone.

“You feeling any better?” Xander said in response, but he clearly wasn’t talking to Lex. The voice came again, but this time, Lex recognized it.

“I’m weaker than I used to be, but it’s no matter,” said Macnamara, “I just wanted to see you again.”

“I’m here,” Xander replied, his voice soft and tender.

Lex knew about Xander and Macnamara. Even though Xander had never told her. Perhaps it was Macnamara’s old badge that was stored in a locked drawer in Xander’s desk. Perhaps it was that whenever PEIP got a message from Macnamara in the Black and White, Xander would listen to it over and over again, lips moving in time with the words, desperately clinging to the sound of Macnamara’s voice, of proof that he was alive. Or maybe it was when Xander would lock himself up in his office every time PEIP agents held a memorial for Macnamara, as if refusing to believe even the mere possibility that Macnamara was dead.

She felt a lump form in her throat at the sound of the gentleness in Xander’s voice. It all made sense suddenly; why he pulled all-nighters to do research with PEIP scientists, why he continued to pull hostages from the Black and White, even when other officials advised against it due to limited space, why he was always there during the identification process, eyes desperately scanning the faces of the hostages.

“My apologies, Lex. I had some business to take care of.” Xander’s voice snapped her from her thoughts. “We will begin to ease Ethan off of his medications. We don’t want him to form a dependency on them. Nurses gave an all clear to take him outside, so why don’t you take him out for the day? He can work off some of that nervous energy and just get out into the fresh air. Just avoid situations that could be potentially triggering for him.”

“Yes sir.”

“Is that all?”

“Yes sir.”

“Thank you for calling Lex. Call me again if you have any more questions.”

“Yes sir. Tell Macnamara I said hi and thank him for his service.”

A pause. Then Xander’s voice, slightly strained, as if holding back tears.

“I will. Thank you, Lex.”

He hung up.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ethan’s face lit up when Lex told him they were going outside for the day. When she emerged from her bedroom after breakfast fully dressed, she noticed that Ethan had put extra care into his appearance, hair combed and gelled, his blue shirt unwrinkled and making his gray eyes seem almost blue. He was no longer moving from restlessness, but rather, from excitement, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. She had to bite her lip to keep the smile off her face.

“Alright, let’s go! We gotta catch the bus to get to the city. Anywhere you wanna go in particular?” Lex asked, grabbing her shoes.

“Actually… can we walk there?” She looked up at him, and he looked down, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Of course. But you have to take small steps. You’re way taller than me, and you know it.” She bumped him playfully with her shoulder, and he cracked a smile in response, following her out the door and down the apartment building steps.

She wanted to grab his hand. He looked so happy, almost bounding down the sidewalk, eyes scanning the street with delight and a sort of innocence. She wanted to link arms with him and just talk, just be close to him.

But the thing between them was still new. For the most part, Ethan didn’t make advances on her, and she didn’t make advances on him. They chatted like old friends, and watched television together, but they never discussed anything emotional or personal, choosing instead to talk about trivial things in life like the weather and food.

But it was the little moments that she remembered. Like when she was doing dishes, and he stepped in to help, his pinky finger brushing hers as he reached for a mug. Or when she slept in and woke up to find Ethan had made breakfast for her and left it in the microwave. Or when she fell asleep on the couch and woke up to find herself enveloped in a blanket that was on the other side of the room before she shut her eyes. Or when she could feel his eyes on her while they were watching television. Small moments that hinted at something more than just a friendship.

“I need pizza. I haven’t had good quality junk food in…” He scrunched up his face in thought, “Six years. I need something greasy and awful.”

“I know a place. Alice and I used to go there whenever we didn’t want to cook for ourselves. They had the greasiest pizza on the East Coast,” she joked. He gave a gesture for her to lead the way, and she had to bite back a smile at this, jogging a couple steps ahead of him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lex had her doubts when Ethan asked for two pizzas instead of one. But she ordered them, and they headed to a park to eat them.

She should have never doubted him. He practically inhaled the pizza, eating a whole pizza by himself, as if it would disappear if he stopped eating. He collapsed onto his back in the grass, licking his fingers.

“Fuck, Lex. I needed that,” he panted. She grinned, picking up a napkin and handing it to him.

“Clean off your face. You got pizza sauce everywhere.”

He obeyed, crumpled up the napkin, and collapsed back down, closing his eyes and tilting his face to the sun. He went limp, finally stopping his fidgeting, breath slowing, almost seeming to be asleep. She tried to quiet her eating, wanting to give him a chance to sleep. She took this opportunity to look at him, how his dark lashes rested on his cheekbones, the soft, golden glow of his skin in the sun, his lips that were parted ever so slightly, the small strip of skin that was bared on his stomach-

“I forgot what it felt like to be outside.”

She nearly jumped, her face heating up. Ethan kept talking.

“I barely had a body in there. Couldn’t feel a thing most times. You just sort of… float aimlessly.”

She focused on her pizza, chewing slowly. “Did you ever see any of the other hostages?”

His brows furrowed, and she quickly backed off.

“I-I’m sorry, you don’t have to answer that-“

“No, it’s fine. I want to talk about it. I didn’t really see any of them, but I could hear them. When people talk, you can hear it. But they didn’t really talk much. Just kinda cried a bit sometimes.”

Lex felt that Ethan was holding something back from her, almost hiding something. But instead of questioning further, she laid down next to him, careful not to touch him. She didn’t want to cross a boundary. They hadn’t deliberately touched since she had held his hand at PEIP headquarters. He let out a sigh, shifting slightly towards her and relaxing again.

If he wasn’t careful, he would probably get a sunburn from lounging around too long under the sun like this. But he was so calm, so peaceful, that she didn’t want to disturb him just yet.

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments really help! I love you guys!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lex and Ethan finally properly talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Implied sexual content. Nothing extreme.
> 
> I just need to post this and stop overthinking 😂

_ Lex awoke in a sea of thick, dark blankets and heavy sheets, a strangled cry still trapped in her raw throat. _

_ “Ethan?! Ethan!” _

_ She tried to shove the blankets off of her, but they were twisted firmly around her legs, effectively trapping her in her bed. Her panic surged, overtaking her senses and making her vision blurr. She began to sob, clawing at the blanket desperately. _

_ “Lex!” _

_ She was suddenly wrapped in the arms of Becky, who grabbed her hands, halting her clawing. Lex struggled still, but Becky held a firm grip, and began rubbing her thumbs across the back of her hands in a familiar pattern, trying to soothe Lex. _

_ “Ethan!” She cried out again, desperate and hopeful. Maybe this time he would come. Maybe this time he would run to her and hold her in his arms, rocking her gently and letting her cling to his shirt.  _

_ But he didn’t come _

_ Becky shushed her quietly, holding her close. _

_ “Shhhhhh, it’s okay. Look at my chest. Match my breaths.” _

_ Becky took a hand away from Lex’s and rested it on her chest. Lex watched, sucking in shuddering breaths, as Becky’s hand rose slowly and steadily on her chest. Her other hand came up to caress her, rubbing her thumb along Lex’s cheek and stroking her hair soothingly. _

_ “Do you want me to do your mantras?” Becky asked softly. Lex nodded quietly. _

_ “I am alive and safe. I am away from danger. The people I love are away from danger. I’m okay.” _

**_Someone I loved was left behind in that burning mall._ **

_ Her throat tightened, but Becky continued, voice soft. Before she could think better of it, Lex laid down, placing her head on Becky’s lap and a hand on her knee. Becky seemed surprised at first, tensing slightly, but soon her hand came to rest on Lex’s hair, continuing to stroke and gently murmuring Lex’s mantra.  _

_ “I miss him,” she managed weakly. _

_ “I know,” Becky said in reply, her voice pained and soft. “We all do. Even Tom is having a rough time about it.” _

_ Lex closed her eyes, trying to ground herself by focusing on Becky’s touch and warmth. Becky’s presence was soothing, like a calm sea after a storm, like a secure bed after a hard day. _

_ “Tell me about him.” _

_ She tensed slightly, and Becky rubbed her shoulder. _

_ “I didn’t know much about him, except that he had a record and Tom knew him. And sometimes with grieving, I find it helps to talk about them.” _

_ Silence. Lex swallowed, and began to talk, slowly. _

_ “I met him sophomore year. He sat next to me in shop class. He had these really pretty eyes and these black curls that were always flopping onto his forehead. That was the first thing I noticed about him.” _

_ Becky didn’t interrupt, so she kept going. _

_ “He called Hannah Banana after she ordered a banana split the first time they met. He gave the best hugs. One time, this freshman was being harassed in school by the football team because he was pansexual and had a boyfriend, and Ethan ran right up to them and punched them in the face. He got detention, but no one ever messed with that boy and his boyfriend again. He used to split his lunch with his cousin. His favorite movie was Grease.” _

_ Tears were forming again, but she found talking did help. For several nights now, she had been haunted by nightmares of Ethan’s last moments. She had begged Tom to tell her about Ethan’s death, and she found that his last words echoed painfully in her ears. It hurt, but listing these things was a reminder that he was more than that. He was more than his criminal record or his brutal death. _

_ Becky held her through the night, quietly listening as Lex named off everything she could remember about Ethan. She burst into tears once she was done, and Becky held her in her arms, letting Lex fist her shirt and wet the collar of her shirt with her tears.  _

_ “It’s my fault. It’s my fault he’s dead,” she whimpered. Becky shook her head fiercely, squeezing her tightly. _

_ “It’s not your fault. It’s mine, if anything.” _

_ Lex blinked in surprise, sniffling quietly. _

_ “I wish I could have done more for him. I wish I could have helped him more than I had. I wish I could have saved him for you.” _

_ Lex shook her head. “‘S not your fault either. I’m glad you were there. At least he wasn’t alone.” _

_ Becky rubbed her back. “We can’t blame ourselves for things out of our control. At the end of the day, the ones truly responsible are the people who killed him. We can stand here and blame ourselves all night. But from what little interaction I had it’s Ethan, I don’t think he would want you to blame yourself. I think he would want you to grow and thrive. He loved you very much, Lex, I’m sure of it.” _

**_I never told him how I felt. He died without ever knowing._ **

_ She fell asleep in Becky’s warm embrace, exhausted, but comforted by Becky’s motherly prescience. _

_ That was the last time she ever cried about Ethan. _

_ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ _

She awoke to the sound of a yell coming from Ethan’s bedroom. 

Since they had begun weaning him off of the medications, Ethan’s nightmares had come back stronger and more horrifying than before. He didn’t sleep at all some nights, and she could hear him shuffling around the house, terrified closing his eyes and seeing the horrors anew.

He didn’t cry, and he didn’t talk about his nightmares. So she didn’t ask.

But tonight felt different. Despite herself, she got up out of her bed. She grabbed a hair tie from her bedside table, pulling her hair up into a ponytail and throwing on a robe to cover her pajamas, a pair of shorts and a tank top. She headed towards his bedroom, trying to think of what to say when she got there.

She knocked softly, and a strained, “Come in,” came from the other side of the door.

He was sitting at the foot of his bed, the lamp on, breathing slowly and methodically.

“You okay?” She asked softly. He let out a breathy laugh, shaking his head.

“About as well as I can be,” he joked weakly.

She sat down next to him gingerly, trying to give him space.

It used to be so much simpler, she thought to herself. They never used to have a problem with touching each other. Knees pressed together underneath a desk, Ethan casually throwing an arm around her shoulders and pulling her close, soft kisses on the cheek or forehead at random moments in a conversation. But now, they almost never touched on purpose, always keeping a distance.

A moment of silence passed before Ethan finally spoke.

“Do you think we would have lasted?”

Lex blinked in surprise.

“What?”

“When we were gonna run away to Cali with Hannah? Do you think we would have lasted very long after that?”

She thought about it for a moment. 

“I… I don’t know.”

It was a shitty plan, looking back on it now that Lex had grown. Very little money, no real place to stay once they got there, an old car in constant need of repairs. Not to mention they were both only kids. Lex would have struggled to find work. Ethan would struggle too, and with a child to care for on top of that. It was likely they would have ended up homeless, or struggling to feed themselves. It was likely they might not have lasted, and would have broken up.

“We were stupid to think we could get away,” Ethan said, rubbing his arm.

“I wouldn’t call us stupid. We were very young and desperate. We wanted a way out of our lives.”

“You got out,didn’t you? I mean, look at you! A steady job, an apartment…”

She gave a weak smile, shifting awkwardly on the bed. “Believe me, my life has been far from ideal.” 

He gave her a confused look. “You don’t like your job?”

She shrugged, looking down at her hands. “It’s a job. It gets the bills paid and helps me eat and care for myself. It’s not my dream job by any means, but it’s a very good one.”

“What would your dream job be?” 

She thought for a moment before smiling to herself.

“Something that involves traveling, I think.”

He chuckled, a real one this time. She rolled her eyes at him.

“What?! It’s true! Before I met you, I used to always dream that I would be a photographer, and I would travel the world and take pictures of stuff.”

“What stopped you?”

“Grew up, I guess.”

“That’s bullshit.”

She laughed, pushing his shoulder. He held his hands up in defense, but the corners of his eyes were crinkled happily.

“No, seriously, why didn’t you?”

“I don’t know! Being a photographer isn’t exactly a steady job. And suddenly, this dude came up to me offering me a good job that pays well in a place that wasn’t Hatchetfield. And then I met Alice, who offered to let me move in with her, and Becky and Tom promised they’d adopt Hannah. So it seemed crazy to turn that down for some stupid fantasy I used to have.”

“I don’t think it was stupid.”

She shrugged. “Well, I’d say it was a pretty good decision. I’ve never gone hungry or had to worry about Hannah since then.”

“Still. You should be living a life that makes you happy, not whichever one was the safest.”

“Well, a safe life used to never be an option for me. And I wasn’t about to waste that chance.”

He seemed to think for a second before speaking.

“You said that used to be your dream before you met me. What was your dream after you did?”

The air felt heavy all of the sudden. Lex sucked in a breath, trying to think. 

Her jaw set. No. She was never going to live with the regret she had been living with for the last six years ever again.

“I just wanted to be with you.”

She couldn’t bring herself to look at Ethan, staring at the ground instead, voice growing thick.

“God, Ethan. You came into my world and turned it upside down. You were the first real risk I ever took, and it was so fucking worth it. I was crazy about you. I just wanted to go wherever you went. I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you.”

She couldn’t hear his breathing anymore. As if he was holding his breath.

“I loved you. I still do,” she admitted weakly.

Silence. Deafening silence.

Broken by a small noise from Lex.

Fuck. She must have crossed a line.

She tucked her robe more firmly around her, hastily walking out of his room and towards the direction of her bedroom. She almost reached the door when she felt a hand on her arm.

When she turned, Ethan was standing there, eyes soft and questioning. 

His hand came up to her face, gently pushing some strands of hair that had fallen from her ponytail out of her face. Then both his arms wrapped around her waist, gently pulling her close. All at once, Lex felt like she was a teenager again, wrapped in Ethan’s warm embrace, breathing in his scent and feeling his warmth.

A moment of hesitation.

And suddenly, his lips were pressed against hers, barely there.

Her eyes widened first, then slipped shut. Her hands came up to cup his face, stretching up on her toes and deepening the kiss. It was slow and careful, a soft exploration after years of none.

They broke apart, but their forehead remained pressed together, both quietly waiting with heavy breaths for the other to make a move.

Something in Lex took over. She had missed him, dammit! She let go of his face to push the robe off her shoulders, letting it fall to the floor before wrapping her arms around his neck and yanking him in for another kiss. This time was a little bit rougher, a bit more desperate. Ethan picked up quickly, his hand coming up to yank the hair tie free so that Lex’s hair came spilling down. One hand buried itself in her hair while the other came back down to her waist.

“I’ve been wanting to do this for a while,” he joked when they broke apart again, both arms wrapping around her and lifting her off the ground, his lips attaching to her neck.

“Good,” she managed, burying her fingers into his curls and clinging on desperately as he mouthed along her neck.

He carried her back down the hallway towards his bedroom, nudging the door open with his foot and laying her gently on his bed, moving over her.

She grabbed him roughly, flipping them over so she could straddle his waist. Now wasn’t the time for gentleness, she decided. These past six years had been sexually frustrating, and she didn’t feel much like pleasantries right now. She bit his lower lip and kissed him hard. He let out a groan, his hands flying up as if he was unsure about what to do with them.

“Lex,” he gasped when she dove down for his neck, fisting his hair so she could turn his head and bite down on the place just below his ear.

“No. Let’s not overthink this. We’ll worry about that tomorrow, okay?!” she said. He nodded in understanding, pulling her back up to kiss her, one of his hands slipping up the back of her tank top.

It was going to be one hell of a night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lemme know what you think! Hopefully next chapter will be faster!

**Author's Note:**

> Next chapter will be longer 😂


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